The Death of Grass

I read an article in a mainstream food magazine called Gourmet several years ago about genetically modified foods. Apparently a scientist in one biotech company accidently created something that if it had been introduced into the environment, it would have eventually wiped out all organic matter on the continent.

"The Death of Grass" is John Christopher's best known novel and probably the ultimate disaster story. The world is dying of starvation. Every kind of grass we need for food is being destroyed by a virus, resulting in carnage, anarchy and a rapid descent to barbarism. In England, now a brown and unpleasant land, two of the principal characters learn of a government plan to depopulate the country. The only way to survive is to escape the hungry mobs and make it to a refuge in the countryside. Like "Lord of the Flies", this story shows how civilized decency and good manners will easily slip away and expose the brutality within us when faced with a fight for survival.John Christopher's writing reminds me of John Wyndham, another writer known for his end-of-the-world scenarios. "The Death of Grass" is a frightening story because in the beginning we identify with the people and their normality. As the book progresses the people become something less than human, but in the end we get a glimmer of hope.

The Death of Grass speaks of how much of our civility in society is hinged to the availability of food, and how a group of Englishmen and women find new order. The emergence of a virus in Asia spreads throughout the world and in its wake upturning the every day pattern life and societal behaviour. The virus attacks monocotyledons, which includes rice, wheat, oats, grass, etc. As not only people, but livestock and other animals are affected. The implications of such a virus are staggering to consider and not that far removed from our current day. The author's grasp on the reader seems as if the book was written today, or reported in a daily newspaper, not of a book written in the 1930's. With the increased scarcity of food, anarchy sets in the cities and hamlets of England. Ordinary citizens form bands looking for a means to feed, clothe and protect their members. There is little love lost and distrust between the groups of nomads that now travel through the lands. Despite the supposed flattening out of the structure of society, leaders, followers, and betrayers emerge as the situation reaches a flash point for our nomadic group. A new order is established and the outcome for our new order entrepreneurs is not expected, but as close to human nature and sibling rivalry as one would prefers not to experience. I had this book, but ironically, it was attacked by mildew and now I am looking to replace the original.

I read this book, although of the title _No Blade of Grass_ just recently, and because I always enjoy the author's work. A virus is affecting grasses. At first only rice in the Far East, and then all grasses. No wheat, no rice, no oats, none of the staple plants needed by man to feed himself and his livestock. Panic strikes the world. A few small families have the hope of a farm on the other side of England, and flee London when they can. They survive. But how would you change if you were constantly deciding between your own humanity and your family's well-being?Find the book, and read it. I don't think you will be disappointed.

The novel is as brilliant as ever and shares an important place in speculative fiction despite its frequent imitators. This is the book that defined Christopher's reputation for creating believable characters and placing them in precarious situations to the pleasure of the reading public. FIND THIS NOVEL and set it alongside the Tripod Trilogy. You won't find that damned movie, this I can tell you.